“Okay, so what’s the issue? To my knowledge we were using this telescope already.”
“We were, yes,” Robert responded. “The problem now, is that it’s not on. We need to turn it back on.”
“On? What do you mean it’s not on?”
Dr. Campero, the Chilean astronomer and one of the scientists who had helped build the telescope, spoke up. “We lost contact with the telescope. This led us to believe that some anarchists in Chile may have purposefully disabled it. We believe the cabling that allows us to remotely move the telescope on its base rotationally has been cut. Basically, we can’t follow the comet’s path unless we fix this issue. We have to go there and fix it.”
“There isn’t someone working there now?” Secretary Brighton asked.
“Well, there was, but not since the Chilean Revolution. It seems like a local militia is trying to sabotage our plan,” Robert replied angrily.
“What about the other telescopes? We have several pointed at the comet at all times, right? What makes this one special?” Secretary Brighton asked.
“Well,” Dr. Campero responded, “the LSST will help us determine the comet’s trajectory more accurately than the others. The more data we get on the comet’s position, the better off we are.”
I get that some people have lost hope, Robert thought with dismay, I just can’t believe they would intentionally sabotage the equipment that’s trying to save it.
Secretary Brighton agreed that they needed to send a team to Chile, and said he would speak with the President and the Secretary of Defense as well.
“Where, exactly, is this telescope?” General Diaz asked Robert, looking up from his computer.
“It’s on a plateau near the mountain Cerro Pachón, around sixty kilometers from the coastal city of La Serena,” Dr. Campero replied.
After briefly consulting a map, General Diaz said gruffly, “There is an aircraft carrier currently within range of La Serena. I can assemble a team that can accompany Dr. Campero to the telescope, where he can fix it. Perhaps we ought to leave a team of soldiers stationed there to protect the telescope from future sabotage?”
“Good idea,” Robert noted. “Oh, make sure you bring liquid nitrogen to the telescope. The CCDs will need to be cooled.”
“Hold on a minute,” Secretary Brighton said. “I’ll need to speak with the Secretary of Defense.”
General Diaz rolled his eyes, and Robert said, “Fine, but do it quickly. We need this telescope live ASAP.”
Secretary Brighton nodded and got the approvals. Later that day, Dr. Campero was flown down to San Diego to meet SEAL Team Five, who would provide protection and help to get Dr. Campero to the telescope.
Early the next morning, Suri, Robert, Secretary Brighton, and General Diaz sat in a conference room watching the live feed of a helicopter as it left the USS Theodore Roosevelt and set off for Cerro Pachón. Secretary Brighton, who had served in Vietnam as a Captain in the Army, watched nervously as General Diaz gave commands to Captain Bergdan.
Robert and Suri both cupped warm cups of coffee. The team flew in just before dawn so they could have the cover of night.
Fortunately, as they flew in, there were no signs of a militia near the telescope. Dr. Ivanov sighed audibly, evidently saddened he would have to wait for another day to see a Navy SEAL fight. Suri rolled her eyes at Dr. Ivanov.
Robert watched as the camera—which sat atop one of the officer’s helmets—swiveled from side to side. He saw the side of the helicopter, then Dr. Campero looking nervous and awkward in a bulletproof vest, and then a menacing machine gun pointed at the LSST. They circled around and landed near it. Robert, who hadn’t ever been to the LSST, marveled at its size, and then Dr. Campero turned over to the officer with the camera and spoke into the camera.
“I should have this figured out in a few hours, and I’ll keep you updated on my progress.”
“Thank you, Francisco,” Robert replied.
Secretary Brighton turned off the sound to the television, and then asked for an update from Robert on the IMPs traveling toward the comet.
“They are on course; no issues for the moment. The first IMPs we launched will reach the comet in approximately one month. Coincidentally, the comet will be visible to the naked eye around that time too. This is when the comet’s tail will become visible. The comet’s ices will begin to sublimate, or turn into gas, and these gasses will be lit up by the Sun. Of the twenty missiles we have launched, twelve of them are nuclear. Of those twelve, nine are successfully on course for Shiva. The other two failed to launch, and we are working on fixing the failed thrusters. Of the eight observational satellites, there are also six heading successfully, which will help identify the comet’s composition and track its movements.”
Robert handed the Secretary a data sheet for the missiles. Then he took Secretary Brighton into the hallway, wanting to share the last piece of information alone. When they were outside, Robert began.
“There is one other thing that I haven’t brought up with you yet . . . ”
Secretary Brighton raised his eyebrows.
Robert told him about Gerald Jan and Vishnu, the manned spacecraft due to orbit Shiva and help to defeat it.
“Jan . . . Jan . . . ” Brighton repeated. “Isn’t he the electric car guy?”
“Yeah, the billionaire. He retrofitted all his factories to help build this huge machine to help us save the world.”
“And he didn’t want to work directly for the United States?”
“You could say he’s an individualist. He doesn’t always trust governments.”
“Ah . . . well, he sounds like a true American then,” Secretary Brighton paused, thinking. “And you believe in this man? You trust in his design and his word?”
“I do, sir. I think having the Vishnu spacecraft could only help us. Jan told me yesterday that Vishnu would be ready to launch around eight months before the comet’s estimated impact date. I think it would really help. But Jan does need something from us.”
“And what is that?”
Robert gulped. “Sixteen nuclear weapons.”
Secretary Brighton blanched.
“They can be short range,” Robert countered quickly. “They would be traveling toward the comet from the orbiting Vishnu spaceship. I know the Joint Chiefs and possibly President Chaplin would consider this a huge threat to national security, but the Vishnu spaceship will make our survival a lot more likely.”
“How much more likely?”
“Orders of magnitude, sir. It could save us.”
Secretary Brighton paused again, rubbing his fingers on his chin before speaking. “All right, Dr. Miller. I’ll do what I can to see if we can work together.”
“Thank you, Mr. Secretary,” Robert replied gratefully. “There is one more thing . . . about the hack by the Union Anarchists . . . the ones that may have been responsible for the Miami bombing. Have you gotten any more information?”
Secretary Brighton stared at Robert intently, as if considering if the information would help Robert work, and replied diplomatically, “We are investigating the evidence of a security breach by the Union Anarchists to sabotage the IMP that detonated above Miami. We have classified them as a terrorist group, however, and are continuing to monitor their activities. We have taken measures to prevent any future attacks.”
“Okay, thanks,” Robert said, and unsatisfied by the answer, muttered, “I guess.”
“Robert, the devastation in Miami was horrible. Tens of thousands dead; hundreds of thousands of casualties. It’s just awful. And this is bound to reduce our capacity to save the world because we have lost some of the trust of our people. But we must soldier on; we must continue to build rockets and fight against the comet. We have no other choice, so please, don’t lose hope,” Secretary Brighton said, before they turned to go back to the conference room.
Suri looked up when Robert and Secretary Brighton reentered the conference room. Everyone was occupied while they waited for Dr
. Campero to give an update regarding the LSST.
Brighton noticed Suri reading the papers in front of her and asked, “How is our production rate for the nuclear weapons?”
“We are ahead of our projection, sir, and should have a healthy stockpile to continue bombing at our projected rate.”
Launching all the rockets immediately would be irresponsible. If the comet’s jets were to change unexpectedly, they might miss the comet entirely. And if its path did change slightly over time, they would have to recalibrate the missiles. As their data about the comet increased, they would know more specifically where to explode the nukes on the comet as well.
“I vant to mention that I spoke with the Minister of Defense of Russia, Sergei Medinsky,” Dr. Petrov said, “and he is happy to say our rocket production is coming along as planned as vell.”
Secretary Brighton nodded, still feeling a little odd about how the two former enemies were now working together as allies.
Robert and Suri had been splitting their time between the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Kennedy Space Center, and Robert had never had so much work on his plate.
As the lead scientist overlooking the entire project, he had to bring together all different types of scientists. There were the observing astronomers who worked out which telescopes to use, and at which times to use them. They were using optical telescopes to find out about the comet’s spin and composition, and using radar telescopes to determine the comet’s shape. The observers would turn their data over to the theoretical astronomers, who would create three-dimensional models of the comet, identifying its shape, spin, speed, and many other variables.
Then Robert had to work with the nuclear physicists, who were in charge of building the bombs. Their specifications were sent to the rocket scientists, who would send the bombs to the locations identified by the theorists. It was all enough stress to give Robert an ulcer, but he found ways to enjoy the little things—for example, the switching of the cafeteria and the engineering offices.
Since everyone had to work together, constantly giving feedback to each other, they all needed to be in the same room. The only room big enough was the cafeteria, so working together—like when the team of rocket scientists met with the team of theoretical astronomers—they were forced to go to the cafeteria to collaborate. Of course, if a few different engineering teams did this, it left almost no seats for people to eat, so they were forced to grab their food and sit in the small offices previously reserved for the engineers! Robert still worked in his office, but he often found himself visiting the cafeteria because so many of the engineers worked there. At least the coffee was always close by.
Jeremy woke up very hot. It was always like that when he camped; he would sleep until he felt like the tent was cooking him for breakfast. Anna was still fast asleep. Jeremy wiped the sleep from his groggy eyes and unzipped the tent, which was always louder than he expected. He stepped out of the tent, and his eyes adjusted. There were smoldering campfires all around the campsite, and it was completely quiet. The partiers had gone to bed, and a solitary car sat on the side of the road with its doors open. Jeremy could see Janice packing her things into the car, and his watch said it was already nine in the morning.
Dustin and Karina were already packing the tent in. Whatever had happened between them, they looked a lot more comfortable together. They looked happy.
“Hey guys, good morning!” Jeremy called.
“Howdy, man. Morning.”
“Morning!” Karina added.
Jeremy helped them finish with the tent, and then woke up Anna.
“Five more minutes,” she said, still asleep.
“Come on, Anna,” Jeremy groaned.
“Let’s go, girl! Time for us to get outta here!” Karina said, and grabbed Anna’s leg, pulling at it.
“Ahhh,” Anna whined, finally rubbing her eyes awake and peering out. “I hate you guys,” Anna mumbled.
“So, what do you guys think? Should we go with Janice?” Dustin asked.
“It’s better than staying here,” Jeremy replied. “We are four, she’s only one, so it’s not like she can rob us. Plus I have the gun. If things get weird—like if she starts driving in the wrong direction—it wouldn’t be hard to overpower her.”
Karina nodded, adding, “I agree with Jeremy. It’s better to go up north than stay with all these people.”
One look around convinced the group this was true, so they decided to take Janice up on her offer. Once everything was packed up, they walked over to Janice’s car and stuffed everything in the trunk.
The drive was beautiful, even though they were scrunched in the small Honda sedan. Jeremy sat in the front with his backpack on his lap, and the other three squeezed in the backseat. The drive was fast and Jeremy looked out the window so he wouldn’t get carsick. It would have been terrible to walk this distance, Jeremy thought. The drive took them less than three hours. Once they got to Vail, it was another thirty minutes of windy roads and beautiful landscape until they made it. The cabin stood on a few acres of private property.
It was a large, two-story cabin. Anna excitedly ran up to it.
“I haven’t been here in forever!” she called.
There was a large front porch complete with comfortable lawn chairs. The group got out of the car and stretched their legs, stiff from the packed car ride. Jeremy walked over forest floor to the cabin that was surrounded by huge pines, aspens, and firs. He walked inside the cabin to the living room and looked around. There was a built-in fireplace to the left, and a great brick chimney above it. The ceiling was tall and pyramidal, with a loft in the far corner. There was a staircase in the back of the cabin, which presumably went to the loft area. On the main floor, to the right, were three doors. Above the middle door loomed the stuffed head of a great buck. To the left was the kitchen. Anna ran out of the backdoor to turn on the generator, and within minutes the lights were all on.
“There are plenty of beds. Jeremy and I will take that one,” Anna said, pointing to the far right door before continuing. “And Janice, you are welcome to stay with us until you figure out what you want to do.”
“Thanks, Anna, that’s so kind of you,” Janice replied.
Jeremy grabbed his stuff from the car and put it in the room, then went back out to sit on the couch. He sighed in relief, sinking into the couch cushions. Finally they had made it to the cabin, where no one would hurt them, no one would steal their car, and where Anna would be safe. Dustin walked up the stairs to the loft and started rummaging around in a bookcase. Before long he said, “No way!” and ran back down the stairs.
“Check this out!” Dustin said, looking at Jeremy.
Dustin held an old Playboy magazine from the 1960’s in his hands. He started to giggle when he saw the look of horror on Anna’s face.
“Where did you find that?” Anna said, aghast.
“It’s probably your dad’s!” Jeremy said, laughing.
Anna chased Dustin around the room trying to snag the magazine from him, and Jeremy tried to block Anna from getting it. Then Jeremy got distracted, seeing something he’d forgotten existed—a landline phone. It was mounted on the wall with a long curly cord hanging down almost to the ground. He walked over and picked it up, then dialed his home number.
“Hello?” his father replied.
“Dad? Hi, it’s Jeremy.”
“Oh my God, it’s you. Are you safe? Where are you? Your mother has been worried sick,” Earl said quickly, and then yelled, “Karen! It’s Jeremy. He’s all right.”
Jeremy heard a scream of relief come from his mother in the other room. He told his father the story of their drive. He left out the part where they got shot at and then carjacked at gunpoint.
“I’m sorry for leaving,” Jeremy said, without thinking. Once the words got out of his mouth, however, he realized the rashness and the reckless nature of his decision to leave Houston without consulting his parents further.
“I’m so sorry, Dad,�
� Jeremy repeated, and then heard his mother had picked up the living room phone. “And I’m sorry, Mom. I’m so sorry. I tried to tell you, I did, but I don’t know, I—”
His mother interrupted him, “The important thing, honey, is that you’re safe. You are safe, right?”
“Yes, Mom, I’m calling you from Anna’s cabin in Vail. There are so few people here and we have a big stockpile of food and there’s a river nearby for water. How is it in Houston?”
“It’s getting worse here,” his father replied. “There’s a big terrorist group who are trying to take control. Maybe you’ve heard of them. They call themselves ‘Union Anarchists.’ They have begun spray painting all the road signs black, and beat up people on the side of the road. I don’t really understand it. And now there are these fundamentalist Christian groups that are fighting with them, trying to take control themselves. They think the world is going to end and that everyone who isn’t a believer is going to burn in . . . Ah, I should stop bothering you with this. How are you?”
Jeremy saw in the background that the others were desperate to call their parents as well.
“Hey Dad, listen, I gotta go. I think my friends want to call their parents to tell them they’re safe too. Write down this number so that you can call me if you need to, and I’ll talk to you soon, okay?” He gave his father the phone number.
“Okay, I love you.”
“I love you, honey!” Jeremy’s mother choked.
“Love you guys, too.”
Jeremy found it was a lot harder to hang up the phone than he’d thought, but he managed to put the phone back on the receiver.
Karina walked up gingerly to where Jeremy stood, and he handed her the phone. The dial tone rang out, just barely audible in the spacious cabin. She dialed a number.
“Mom?” she asked.
While the conference room waited for Dr. Campero to figure out the problem with the LSST, the SEALs stood guard. Through a soldier’s head camera, Suri saw graffiti on the wall of a small outbuilding that said, “Juicio Final,” or “Final Judgment.”
Days of Anarchy Page 6
